Market transactions involve exchanges of products and services among different parties. In market transactions, information asymmetry can involve one party to a transaction having more information (or more reliable information) than another party. This information asymmetry may result in or otherwise contribute to an imbalance of power in market transactions. This imbalance of power may reduce the value of these transactions to one or more parties, may reduce the likelihood of one or more parties entering into a transaction, or may otherwise result in or contribute to market failure.
An absence of reliable information for market transactions may negatively impact consumers. For example, credit bureaus may mitigate the risk of adverse selection in the financing industry by allowing lenders (i.e., sellers) to “screen” borrowers (i.e., buyers) through a credit score or report. However, such screening operations may rely on incomplete or inaccurate risk models that prevent a consumer from purchasing a product or service, even if the consumer is actually financially able to do so. An absence of reliable information may also negatively impact marketing efforts by providers of products and services. For example, providers may not know which consumers are financially capable of purchasing a given product or service or know which consumers are interested in a given product or service.
Prior solutions for improving the information available to providers may involve screening a consumer after the consumer has initiated a prospective transaction with the provider of a product or service (e.g, lenders, insurers, sellers of commercial products, etc.). For example, the consumer may represents himself or herself in a certain way to a seller. If the seller decides that this individual might qualify for the seller's products and services, the seller may attempt to screen the applicant by verifying the applicant's information through third parties, such as credit bureaus and other credit reporting agencies. The third party may attempt to screen the consumer based on the consumer's credit score, income, employment, or other data. In these prior solutions, the consumer may have little to no awareness of what data is being used to decide whether the seller will enter into a transaction with the consumer. Furthermore, these prior solutions may not allow a seller to prospectively screen out high-risk consumers or other undesirable consumer until the seller and consumer have both expended substantial resources to reach the transaction stage and the consumer has provided information for the seller to verify.
It is desirable for sellers of products and services to have access to reliable information about prospective consumers or clients. It is also desirable for a consumer to be aware of the types of information used by a seller or other provider of a product or service to determine the consumer's eligibility for the product or service. It is also desirable for a consumer or other client to obtain information about different aspects of products and services (e.g., types of offers and rates for which the client may qualify) prior to initiating a transaction or sharing any personal identification information with a seller or other provider of a product or service.